2015 Caspar Plot
Background In 15 ABY, following the Retribution of Coruscant the Caspian Democratic Union was forced to sign the CDU Nonaggression Treaty with the Galactic Empire, which established the Union's neutrality in the civil war, pledging to deny military support and accommodation to both sides. Though diplomatic relations were almost immediately threatened by the arrest of a Caspian diplomat on charges of aiding sedition, the treaty remained in force. Blockade Acting on information that the CDU government was facilitating the supply of arms to the New Republic, the Galactic Empire established a blockade of the Caspian system and issued a declaration of intent. All intergalactic trade ceased and within days, market shelves were stripped bare as panic gripped the system and the Caspian peoples prepared themselves for a long siege. Concerned that the Imperial stranglehold on the system would force capitulation, Ambassador Ambrosia Delgard of the New Republic, trapped on Caspar by the blockade, addressed the public calling for calm. Early smuggling efforts paid for by the New Republic to provide relief to the suffering Caspians were thwarted by the blockade. Seeing an opportunity to seize the initiative from the Republic and drive a wedge between the Caspian people and their government, the Empire issued their own promise of aid. Losing the propaganda war and the faith of their allies in the Union government, the Republic took more drastic measures. Privateers sponsored by the Republic began raiding the Imperial aid convoys, stolen goods and vessels began making their way through the previously impenetrable blockade. Desperate to reveal the Empire's evil intentions, the Republic undertook a daring mission into the heart of Imperial territory and infiltrated a naval supply base. Secreting weapons among aid shipments bound for Union space, the Republic led the Union authorities to their planted 'evidence'. Outraged by the discovery, Minister of State Cordellia Nivhya ordered the Empire to immediately withdraw from Union territory and counter-protests echoing the demand sprang up across Caspar. Judging that no further gains could be made through diplomacy, Imperial agents embedded in the demonstrations ignited the civil powder-keg. Under the cover of the resulting chaos, Imperial Commandos stormed the Republic embassy and took the embattled Ambassador captive. Her Jedi bodyguard, charged with the protection of her only child, escaped with the ward. Occupation Imperial-armed radicals among the rioters quickly overwhelmed Caspian law enforcement, forcing the Union's military to divide its attention between guarding against Imperial invasion and quelling the unrest. Poised to exploit the opening, the Empire immediately began landing troops under the guise of aiding riot control. Stormtroopers and Imperial Walkers took control of star ports, garrisoned population centers and at the direction of the Imperial Security Bureau, set about hunting down the criminals and radicals believed to have been behind the violence. Satisfied that the Republic had been sufficiently provoked, the bulk of the Imperial fleet redeployed to the Ketterslea gateway to await their response. Hoping to bait the Republic into a costly mistake, the fleet presented conspicuous vulnerablity to massed starfighter attack while a large force of Lancer frigates led by the [[ILF Tempest|HIMS Tempest]]'' had been concealed in the so called 0''Wall of Tumbling Teeth asteroid belt in the nearby Caspia system, ready to spring the trap. Keen to capture the fugitive Jedi and leverage Ambassador Delgard's daughter against her, Lord Aldus Thel dispatched Darth Venger to Caspar to ferret them out from hiding. A timely intervention by a band of retired Caspian veterans foiled the Dark Lords' plans. With the aid of his new allies, Leo Corak went on to add insult to injury - stealing the Grand Inquisitor's personal TIE Fighter in an assault on an Imperial air base and escaping the Empire's clutches. Meanwhile, the captive Ambrosia Delgard managed to make contact with a Republic scouting force reconnoitering the Imperial fleet. A rescue mission was hastily assembled, led by First Lieutenant Amaya Halos of the 224th Raiders Marine Battalion. Republic commandos infiltrated the Imperial flagship HIMS'' Nemesis'''' and secured the Ambassador's release, heavily damaging the Star Destroyer's primary launch bay in the process. Corporate Sector Authority: Initial Involvement Predicting a major battle and potential planetary scale damage the CSA Direx board dispatched a special envoy, Zeak Oppenhiemer, to the Caspian Democratic Union. Oppenhiemer arrived shortly before the Ambassador's escape, bearing the title of Special Direx Trustee to the Caspian Democratic Union. Charged with monitoring the situation and empowered to negotiate on the Authority's behalf, Oppenhiemer was granted the use of the CSAS Authority, a modified Strike Cruiser previously assigned to the Authority's military academy at Kalla VII. Oppenhiemer brought with him Authority offerings to aid in reconstruction; low interest rate loans with payment deferrals for the first few years and direct purchase of CDU market stock on behalf of the Authority. In return, the Authority required a complete mutual eradication of all export restrictions and key tariff considerations for CSA interests. The authority plan was well received by Union industry, which began lobbying the Assembly for formal negotiations to begin. Evacuation of Griffon ex-patriots from Kitchnar Orbital Station Shortly after his arrival, Oppenhiemer used the ''CSAS Authority to grant asylum to several thousand residents of the Kichnar Orbital Station. The evacuees were largely former members of the Griffon Alliance's Intelligence and Logistic commands who had not joined the New Republic when the Alliance was reabsorbed by the Republic a decade earlier. The evacuation essentially deserted the section of the station in which they had been living, colloquially known as Little Pride. Packed in aboard an increasingly cramped CSAS Authority, evacuees and their families took up residence in vacant passenger quarters, cargo and hangar space. Battle of Broken Teeth Rather than meet the Imperial fleet head on at Ketterslea, the Republic aimed to strike at the vulnerable Victory-class destroyers left behind by the Empire to support its occupation efforts and so liberate the Caspian worlds. To achieve this goal, they risked a dangerous back-route into the tumultuous Caspian system. Unable to guarantee an orderly arrival, the Republic planned to use the Caspian asteroid belt, the so-called Wall of Tumbling Teeth, to mask its arrival. By deploy progressively larger vessels, they could muster a fleet of sufficient size and power to launch a successful liberation of the entire system before the Empire could react. The first waves of Republic starfighters arrived to discover their hiding place already occupied by squadrons of Lancer frigates, hidden there in hopes of presenting the Ketterslea fleet as falsely vulnerable to massed bomber attack. Battle immediately broke out. Captain Lance Corbet ordered his starfighter wings to commence an ill-advised attack on the lancers, which all but annihilated the Republic's bomber squadrons before the arrival of Republic frigates turned the tables. Imperial distress calls were answered by Lieutenant Commander Tycus Varian, who rallied the Carrack cruisers which had remained in Caspia to support interdiction efforts to their rescue. Ordered to hold the belt at all costs, Varian and his Carracks were subjected to heavy losses at the hands of Republic gunships, but refused to rout. Though the Empire held the belt, and forced the Republic fleet to abandon its plans and withdraw to the outer Caspian world of Kichnar to regroup, the loss of so many cruisers squandered whatever strategic advantage had otherwise been gained. For this blunder, Lieutenant Commander Roosh, the tactical officer and acting captain of the HIMS ''Nemesis ''during the battle was summarily executed on the orders of Aldus Thel. Aid Interrupted...briefly Although the Union instituted emergency measures to increase its domestic agricultural output at the onset of the blockade, it would require significant time in order to bare fruit. Keen to keep the Union government on a short leash, the Empire deliberately hampered distribution with its interdiction efforts and never provided more than a few days of surplus aid at any one time. Hoping to stoke hostility toward the Republic intervention, the Empire halted the flow of aid to the Union and blamed the Republic. Claiming that it could no longer spare the ships required to protect the shipments from Republic-funded piracy as long as their fleet remained in Union territory, the Empire advised the commonwealth governments to prepare for rationing. Wary that this strategy might lose the remaining the good-will of the Caspian populace and with it, the neutralization of the Union military, the Empire publicly promised to undertake negotiations with the newly involved Corporate Sector, with a view to having the Authority assume responsibility for the aid mission on the Empire's behalf. Shortly thereafter, the Authority Direx issued a press release announcing that the Authority would be taking over the aid mission on behalf of, and at the expense of the Empire. Initial Authority shipments suffered significant losses to piracy. The authority responded with larger convoys and increased protection from the picket fleet and dispatching its flagship, the Imperator-class Star Destroyer CSAS Corporate Takeover to the region. Corporate Takeovers With the Republic occupying the Sloan drydock facilities at Kichnar Orbital Station, the Empire moved to seize control of the smaller Victoria shipyards over Caspar. SubPro stock began to devalue, and entered total freefall when fighting inflicted severe damage to the Sloan facilities. The Etti Group quickly completed a hostile takeover of the corporation. The Republic Withdraws Citing a desire to preserve the venerable shipyards and maintain the economic viability of the sector, the Etti Group obtained an order from the Caspian courts demanding the immediate vacation of SubPro's facilities. CEO Zeak Oppenhiemer hand delivered the eviction notice. Bloodied and disheartened, the Republic forces complied and initiated a complete withdrawal from the sector. Keen to preserve the pretense of a moral high-ground, the Empire makes no effort to stop them and occupies Kichnar station hours later. Oppenhiemer is arrested, having run the blockade to deliver his notice. He is quietly released without charge several days later. Treaty Amendments Out of options, the Union assembly meets in a special session to ratify an amended treaty. The Republic is prohibited from Union territory and diplomatic relations are terminated. The CSA's Office of the Auditor General, (OOAG) as an agreeable neutral third party, is granted oversight of Caspian customs to ensure future compliance with the treaty. In an effort to simplify compliance and minimize OOAG presence on the Caspian planets, all traffic to and from the outside universe is being routed through Kichnar Orbital Station. The Imperial fleet withdraws and days later, the Presav and his cabinet tender their resignations. Conspirators Unmasked In return for full Caspian cooperation in an investigation to identify the conspirators behind the arms smuggling which instigated the crisis and the harshest penalties sought, the Empire agrees to prosecution under Caspian jurisdiction. An Imperial Security Bureau investigation overseen by Agent Alysha Mara identifies Arten Guri, Deputy Minister for Trade, as the chief conspirator. Large CDU Corporate Restructuring Many CDU corporations beyond Subpro have suffered, merged, or been broken up as a result of the conflict. This section details the outcome of those events and current status of those corporations and sectors of the CDU economy. Shipping, Import & Export: Caspar Unlimited CSA relief shipping was quietly spun off into a new Etti Group owned corporation: Caspar Unlimited. Caspar Unlimited continues to maintain the largest position in the post-conflict import/export market due to both their positioning as the relief provider and due to their experience dealing with the OOAG. Even though Kichnar Orbital Station is an open port (subject to the restrictions of both CDU and CSA treaties and laws) Caspar Unlimited runs (directly or indirectly) much of the port facilities as such maintains a significant competitive advantage. Caspar Unlimited does participate in the inter-CDU shipping market, but does not enjoy dominance in that market. Subpro When the dust settled roughly 80% of Subpro stock had been purchased by off world investors. The largest of these investors, Zeak Oppenhiemer's Etti group owns 47%; 33% is owned by the Bonadan Venture Capital Holding Corporation (BVCHC), headquartered on Bonadan. The remaining 20% is held by private investors, most of whom held positions in Subpro before the conflict. BVCHC was created from thin air during the conflict and likely was made to serve the interests of a 3rd party investor who wishes to remain anonymous and uninvolved in day-to-day operations. There are rumors that Zeak Oppenhiemer has acquired those shares. NovaCom Cybertronics NovaCom Cybertronics, one of the galaxy's largest manufacturers of droids, communication and electronics equipment has been laboring under significant supply chain issues. Prior to the conflict NovaCom expanded its production capacity by opening major facilities in the Corporate Sector Authority. NovaCom also invested significantly in CSA infrastructure, eventually acquiring membership as a `voting sponsor.' While this move greatly increased production capacity and revenues it upset many in the CDU government (who began to doubt NovaCom's patriotism) and required the shipment of intermediate components between facilities over great distances. Supply lines disruptions due to the conflict caused NovaCom to failed to meet a number of recent delivery dates as well as missed bond obligations. NovaCom stock has suffered significant drops and as a consequence was acquired by Zeak Oppenhiemer and the Etti group.